Study Says Women Wearing Makeup Appear More Competent

Something that has been making headlines recently is a recent study which found that women who wore makeup were perceived as more attractive, trustworthy, competent, and even likeable.

The study, which was conducted by Procter and Gamble, involved photographing women with bare faces, minimal (natural) makeup, moderate (professional) makeup, and dramatic (glamorous) makeup. These photos were then shown to participants for 250 milliseconds who were instructed to rate them for attractiveness, competence, trustworthiness, and likeability. The women wearing makeup in varying degrees were judged as more competent and likeable than the women who weren’t.

Sure, it takes time and resources to apply cosmetics every morning just to remove it at the end of the day. But for women want to advance in their careers, makeup is a resource that can help them achieve their goals. Says The Image Professor, LisaMarie Luccioni, “Tasteful makeup can mean more money. The American Economic Review reveals that women who wear makeup can earn up to 30% more income. Additional research published in the International Journal of Cosmetics Science (Nash et al., 2006) discovered that people judge women wearing cosmetics as higher earners with more prestigious jobs.”

Since people make snap judgments about people on their appearance alone, wearing makeup is something women can do to improve their favorability. Dr. Vickery says that cosmetics “can significantly change how people see you, how smart people think you are on first impression, or how warm and approachable, and that look is completely within a woman’s control, when there are so many things you cannot control.”

As a woman, I personally feel better about myself when I’m wearing makeup which helps me to feel less self-conscious and more competent at work.

3 thoughts on “Study Says Women Wearing Makeup Appear More Competent”

Generally make up enhanced the beauty of a woman and that beauty boosts her confidence. I agree that women who wear make up are confident enough to face daily life whether it is office or beauty related. The concept of selling make up actually deals with its core product which is HOPE- hope for beauty. With make up this hope become true and thus most women appear composed in front of people. Same way, jewelries or accessories add to the confidence that women felt. using make up and jewelries can make you look better and thus will make you develop your own personality.